Movie Star Mel Gibson Settles to Pay $750,000
Mel Gibson must pay $750,000 to his ex Oksana Grigorieva as part of their custody agreement finalized in a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday.
The couple split in 2010 and now the actor will be required to maintain financial and housing support to their 21-month-old daughter, Lucia. The settlement marks the end of a battle between the former couple, which was conducted mostly in secret proceedings for more than a year, said Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman.
Gibson will pay the Russian-born singer a $750,000 lump sum that will be made in three payments, with the final payment occurring in Sept. 2016 if the agreement is not breached. His daughter will receive the same amount in child maintenance payments that Gibson is required to pay his ex-wife for the care of their children together.
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Grigorieva is allowed to stay in the house that Gibson purchased for her and their daughter. The actor will also have to maintain payments on the house until Lucia is 18, at which time the house will be sold and the proceeds put in trust for the daughter.
The judge told both parties that neither is allowed to release any audio recordings of the other. It is speculated that Litchman was referencing a series of racist and sexist rants by Gibson, which were directed at Grigorieva during an argument. The former couple will also share custody of Lucia.
Both Gibson and Grigorieva agreed to the terms.
The Braveheart star said, “I’d like to say thanks your honor for bringing this matter to a reasonable conclusion.”
Neither party spoke with the media but Grigorieva’s lawyer, Daniel Horowitz, told reporters that she wanted to resolve the agreement for the sake of their daughter.
“Oksana and Mel were in love. In love for three years. Lucia was a planned child,” said Horowitz. “Oksana settled today because it was the best interest of Lucia. Oksana will not be commenting. Instead she is going to concentrate on raising her daughter herself without nannies.”
In 2010, Grigorieva rejected another settlement worth $15 million because she reportedly felt Gibson was a danger to their daughter and believed he should not be permitted to have unsupervised contact with Lucia. Some say the former girlfriend denied the settlement because she was advised she could receive more money.
Earlier this year, Gibson pled no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge relating to an argument he had with Grigorieva in January 2010. The actor was accused of striking Grigorieva and was sentenced to 36 months probation and ordered to attend 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling.
